The Video 'Bite'
by
Source
The Law Teacher, Volume 1, number 1 (Fall 1993), p. 9.
About the Author
Lee Stuesser is an associate professor of law at Robson Hall, University of Manitoba. For more information on using video "bites" in the classroom, contact Professor Stuesser at Faculty of Law, Robson Hall, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, (204) 474-9773, FAX (204) 275-5540.
Good teaching involves capturing and harnessing the interest of students.
One technique that I use to generate interest is the video "bite." I avoid instructional videos, and turn instead to movies and television. My objective is not to use the video to instruct, but to illustrate. I look for short scenes that capture an issue. I then use the video to initiate discussion.
A perfect example is the opening scene from the movie, The Star Chamber. In the early morning hours, two undercover police officers observe a young man walking down the street. On a "hunch," one of the officers decides to talk to the man. The man flees. The chase is on. It ends with the man fleeing into his home, but not before he drops something into his garbage can. The police officers do not search the garbage can, but wait for the contents of the can to be dumped into a garbage truck that is just approaching. They find a handgun that connects the accused to several murders. Flowing from this discovery, the accused is questioned and fully confesses. Authorities search his home and find various items stolen from the murder victims.
The scene moves to the courtroom. All is for naught. The handgun and all evidence flowing from its seizure are ruled inadmissible. Why? The accused's Fourth Amendment right to protection from unreasonable search and seizure was violated. How? The accused retained a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in the contents of his garbage can.
"Garbage," you say. No so. There is precedent, including the case of People v. Krivda, 486 P.2d 1262 (1971), which is mentioned in the scene, and California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988), in which Justice Brennan provides an eloquent defense of the reasonable expectation of privacy in one's trash and the intimate secrets contained therein.
Where does this lead? It leads to discussion on the notion of "reasonable expectation of privacy"; it leads to discussion on the whole issue of exclusion of evidence flowing from a violation of the Constitution; and for may students, it leads to discussion of the Canadian approach under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The video "bite" in a vivid and visual way acts as the standard law school hypothetical. Like most of our hypotheticals, it is extreme and exaggerated, but it serves as an excellent catalyst for discussion.
Next time you are watching a movie, think about the video "bite."
